DB Brown out for season with Achilles injury

USF senior defensive back Josh Brown, who would have entered preseason camp as the Bulls' starting nickel defensive back, will miss the 2013 season after tearing his right Achilles tendon during a recent workout.

Brown, who totaled 11 tackles last year in his first season with the Bulls, had successful surgery Tuesday and will need six to eight months for a full recovery, which would allow him to return to football next spring. Because he redshirted while he was at Arizona Western College in 2010, he would need a sixth year of eligibility to play in 2014, but USF will pursue that. He was sidelined by a shoulder injury during that 2010 redshirt season.

Brown's injury means the Bulls are more likely to rely on a newcomer in a key role this fall -- he entered fall drills behind senior Brandon Salinas and sophomore Kenneth Durden at cornerback, likely as the team's nickel defensive back. USF will now likely turn to a player without major-college experience, such as junior college transfer Torrel Saffold, redshirt freshman Chris Bivins or a true freshman like Miami's Lamar Robbins.

With last year's starting cornerbacks, Kayvon Webster and George Baker, graduated and on NFL rosters, USF will be extremely young at cornerback this fall, this after totaling an NCAA-low two interceptions in 2012. Durden had 10 tackles as a freshman last year, and Salinas is a walk-on who had two tackles in 2011 but was not with the team last fall. USF has two experienced, veteran safeties in seniors Mark Joyce and JaQuez Jenkins.

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